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Your galleryRiver Boat
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Follow the two trails of smoke across the sky, then compare their soft edges with the sharp, broken crests of the water.
This oil painting on board gives river travel a forceful, mechanical presence. A dark steamboat occupies the middle distance, and smoke stretches across the lighter sky. In the foreground, angled strokes of pale paint make the water appear choppy, connecting the vessel’s activity with the movement around it.
Oil on board · 21.2 × 45.4 cm · Art Institute of Chicago · Barbizon School
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Details and source
- Museum title
- River Boat
- Artist
- Charles François Daubigny (French, 1817–1878)
- Date
- c. 1860
- Medium
- Oil on board
- Dimensions
- 21.2 × 45.4 cm (8 3/8 × 17 7/8 in.); Framed: 37.5 × 62.3 × 3.9 cm (14 3/4 × 24 1/2 × 1 1/2 in.)
- Credit line
- Bequest of Dr. John J. Ireland
- Image license
- CC0 1.0 · Public domain
- Museum record
- Art Institute of Chicago
Galler’s rooms and hanging scale are imagined. The image is the museum’s original digital reproduction.